Sostenuto device for pianos.



T. E. STEINWAY. SOSTENUTO DEVICE FOR HANDS. APPLICATIO! FILED JUNE 10, 1M6.

1,214,237. Patented Jan. 30,1917.

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A TTOHNEY lfiiTENT OFFICE.

E. STEINVJAY, 01F 'NEN YORK, N. Y.

SOSTE'NUTG DEVICE PIANOS.

fipeclfication of Letters latcnt.

Patented Jan. 30, 1917.

Application filed June 11'), 1916. Serial No. 102,831. I

all whom 521' may; concern:

it known that L'Tiinononr. E. STEIN Wain a citizen of the United States, and resident of ew York. in the borough of iilanhat'ta' and State of New York,

certain new and useful Inihave in re pi cvemen in Fiostenulo Devices for Pianos,

n invennon rel an imo or ice for es object to provide new ,ch will be simple in conoccupying a relatively small of positive and noiseless operaother object is to provide a damper MILQl whereof the pivoted nose will be projected by a. compression spring into posirion for engagement by the rocking sustainlT rod which will be inclosed and unexthereby being longer lasting than means, and entirely protected n object to provide in such means which will permit 'ation of in, is (:iSO' device, edii correct aliuement and perfect ope such devices.

With these and other objects in View, my invention is shown in the accompanying drawings and will be hereinafter more fully described with reference thereto, and finally pointed ou in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure l a side elevation of my improved device owing the piano action with parts broken ay. Figs. 2, 3 and i are similar views the device showing different positions of movement. Fig. 5 is a. vertical sectional view of the same, and Fig. 6 1s a front view thereof.

Similar reference characters indicate corrspondin parts throughout the several lijures of rhe drawings.

Refer to the drawings, and more pariieularly iio Fig. 1 thereof, a damper lever in, is pivoted at 11, between the extension an individual support or flange 15, roo'n' a pivoted main support or which extends forwardly at bement through a heath the lever 10, and is provided at its forward end with a felt pad 16 upon which the lever rests. The support 14 rests upon a post 1'7 and is adapted to be raised by a pedal-actuated member 1'8'when the forte pedal is depressed. A spring 19 provided at its end with a felt pad 20 presses upon the upper side of the lever 10, and weight plugs 10 are inserted in the lever in the usual manner.

A lifting member 21 is pivotally secured to the damper lever at 2'2, and is connected to the damper 23 which rests upon the string 24-, by a damper rod 25 secured thereto by a screw 26, and guided in its movefelt lined passage 27 of a guide board 28. The damper actuating end 29 of the key is disposed beneath the end of the damper lever, and upon striking the key, lifts the damper from the string, whereupon the key 30 strikes the string. The elements and actions above described are not new, and are shown and described in order to properly understand the workings and advantages of the present improvements which are embodied in the lifting member 21.

The damper lifter 21 has a recess or socket 31 and a tappet 32 is pivoted within said recess and provided with a forwardly projecting triangular portion or nose 33, which is preferably covered with a layer of felt This tappet 32 has a. beveled rear face 34: opposite said nose. and the beveled portion of said tappet is .provided with a bore A compression spring 36 has its front portion disposed within said bore and its rear end resting :igainst the felt backing 37 covering the rear face of said recess 31. This spring being located below the pivot of the tappet. 32 and being normally under compression, operates to swing said tappet on its pivot and project its nose 33 outward or forward. The lifter 21 is provided above its pivot with a screwthreaded hole and a regulating screw 38 is disposed therein. By adjusting this screw the inner end thereof may be made to project more or less beyond the back face of the lifter 21 and the expansive action of the compression spring 36 normally holds the lower end of said lifter forward or out ward and the inner end thereof rearward or inward, said projecting end of the adjusting screw being in contact with the back face of the recess 31 or with the felt lining thereof. The screw 38 thus serves as a stop to hold the tappet 32 in normal position' By means of these regulating screws the positions of the pivoted tappcts 32 may be adjusted so that their several noses 33 may be established on an even line throughout the piano, whereby the action of the sustaining device is made uniform throughout the various keys, and greater accuracy of the piano action secured.

In front of the lifting member, there is provided a sustaining rod or bar 40, provided with a longitudinal flange 41, and which is adapted to be rocked on its bearings upon depression or release of the individual note sustaining pedal, the flange being moved from the downwardly inclined position shown in Fig. l, to the horizontal sustaining position shown in Fig. .3. In the normal or unactuated position the flange is slightly spaced from the forward end of the nose, and in no way adects the playing.

hen a note or chord is to be sustained without continued pressure on the keys, the sustaining pedal is depressed after striking the note or chord and before removing the fingers from the keys, whereupon the flange is brought beneath the nose, raising the same together with the damper slightly above the normal upper position, in this way permitting the other keys of the piano to be played during sustaining of the note or chord, without coming into contact with the raised flange. Fig. 3 clearly illustrates this action, the intermediate nose indicating the played but unsustained note, and the lower nose the unplayed note. If the sustaining flange is lowered during playing of a note, the same will noiselessly andeasily pass the nose, swinging the same on its pivot,as shown in Fig. 4, without in any way aflccting the playing of the note. To this purpose the spring 36 is practically a hair spring, being of sufficient strength to hold the nose in its proper outward position, but allowing depression of the nose with the slightest pressure thereon. The movement of the flange to its lower osition is therefore practically without edect on the playing The present invention provides a. lifting member entirely smooth and unbroken at three of its sides, the other and recessed side being provided with the projecting nose. The spring, which projects said nose is a COIHPI'QSSIOH spring and-is entirely inelosed within the recess and holding means disposed between thus formed in the lifter para-ps7 and the lodgment of dust or other foreign matters which seriously reduce the efiiciency of the piano is prevented. The adjustability of the noses with respect to each other permits that a perfectly even line throughout the piano be established, thereby re sulting in a perfect and uniform playing action.

ll have illustrated a preferred and satisfactory form of my invention, but it is obvious that changes may be made therein within the spirit and scope thereof, as defined in the appended claims,

ll claim:

1. in a damper action for pianos, a danr per lever, a damper and a damper lifter provided with a recess, a tappet pivoted within said recess and provided with a projecting portion, a spring within said recess operative to project said portion, and a sostenuto rail adapted to be moved under said projecting portion for holding the da mper in raised position when it has been raised by the key.

2. In a damper action for pianos, a damper lever, a damper and a damper lifter provided with a within said recess and provided with a projecting portion, a spring within said recess operative to project said portion, means for adjusting the degree of projection of the projecting portion, and a sostenuto rail adapted to be moved under said projecting portion to sustain the damper in raised posltion when it has been raised by the key In a damper action for pianos, a damper lever, a damper, and damper lifter provided with a recess in one side, a rapper; pivoted within said recess and provided with a projecting portion and with a bore below its pivot point, a compression spring disposed in said bore and bearing against the rear wall of said recess, means above said pivot point for regulating the degree of projection of said projecting portion, and a sustenuto rail adapted to be moved under said projecting portion to sustain the damper in raised position when it has been raised by the key.

4C. In a damper action for pianos, a plurality of damper levers, a plurality of dampers and a plurality of damper lifters hav mg pivoted tappets provided with projecting portions, means for regulating the degrees of projection of said projecting portions to establish alinement thereof, and a sostenuto rail adapted to be moved under said projecting portions to sustain the dampers in raised position when they have been raised by the key.

5. In a damper action for pianos, a damper lever, a damper and a damper lifting said damper and comprising a lever and said recess, a tappet pivoted ifter, a. pivoted tappet carried by said lifter as my invention, I have s1gnea my name and provided with a, projecting portion ad- 1n presence of two subscribing witnesses.

justa-ble means for regulating the posltion of said pivoted projecting tappet, and a THEODORE STEINWAY' spring for holding said projecting portion Witnesses:

in normal position. CHAs. MA'rrrmw,

Mon M. Wnmmma.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G."

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